Participatory Action Research (PAR) is a process of working collaboratively with those most involved or impacted by the issue. At FoodARC, we work with individuals, community organizations, government representatives, and university-based researchers to gather information and act to improve food security.

What we achieve is only as important as how we achieve it. In its projects, FoodARC strives to be inclusive and co-creates knowledge and action to ensure that activities and policy recommendations are rooted in what Nova Scotian communities need and hope for.

FoodARC’s emphasis on Participatory Action Research means that we believe that people’s real life experiences and their own understandings of those experiences are crucial to developing solutions to any challenges they may face.

Food security is impacted by many different factors. Long-term, holistic, and systemic changes are needed. That’s why advocacy and policy change at multiple levels are important strategies and can be found at the core of FoodARC’s objectives and work.

2005– 2017
Voices for Food Security in Nova Scotia builds on more than a decade of collaborative and community based participatory research, to improve knowledge, understanding and action to create the conditions to address food insecurity.

The project involves collaborating with local organizers to co-host a series of regional gatherings that serve as opportunities for outreach, knowledge and story sharing, action planning, and capacity building, and which focus on local priorities and interests.

FoodARC will be hosting the 2018 President’s Visiting Lecture Series on Teaching and Learning on Building Capacity for Reconciliation: Transforming Teaching and Learning through Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing) in partnership with the Atlantic Indigenous Mentorship Network (Atlantic-IMN).

FoodARC is undertaking research on the Consumer Food Environment in Nova Scotia to understand the current and future factors affecting the food & beverage environment, and the populations most affected by these environments.

Cultivating Change: Putting Food First in Nova Scotia was an exploratory project that focused on facilitating and strengthening cross-departmental collaborations, to create sustained action and lasting change on food insecurity in Nova Scotia.

This project explores how to foster cultural food security for new immigrants and refugees in NS by examining factors that contribute to their food insecurity, as well as the relevance of community-driven local initiatives and programs as potential opportunities to contribute to cultural food security.

This study charts the full scope of charitable food provisioning activities in Halifax, Quebec City, Toronto, Edmonton and Victoria and assesses each community’s capacity to recognize and respond to local problems of unmet food need.

The Children’s Lifestyle and School-performance Study (CLASS) is a province-wide research project that looks at the relationships between health, nutrition, physical activity, mental health and school performance of children in Nova Scotia.

This study explores the structure and constitution of networks of food initiatives in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia, working in partnership with four provincial network organizations.

This project was part of the Atlantic Social Economy and Sustainability Research Network, which worked to broaden knowledge about the social economy of the Atlantic region. From 2005-2011 the partnership brought together both academic and community partners committed to improving community food security.

This workbook was developed in 2005-2006 as part of a series of research projects on food security. As well as using research and experiences drawn from the Nova Scotia Food Security Projects, it incorporates ideas, insights and advice from people involved in food security issues and actions across Canada.

FoodARC offers learning and skill-building workshops and events to build capacity for research, policy change, advocacy, and working collaboratively. Visit this page for the latest events and information.

FoodARC hosts and supports diverse events to share research results, have meaningful conversations, and support learning. For more information about past events, including descriptions and any associated resources.

﻿Make Food Matter is a strategy to support FoodARC partners in building community food security across Nova Scotia. We have gathered a range of tools that we have found to work well in supporting action on community food security. We hope it will support you and your organization, wherever you are at in your efforts.

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The Food Action Research Centre

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FoodARC is committed to research that is grounded in real community needs in Nova Scotia and beyond — research that supports learning, action and the social and systems change needed to build healthy, sustainable and just food systems for all.

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